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Oklahoma City homebuilding freezes with cold weather

Builder Steve Allen reads no more than the frigid winter into the statistics. Builders are still busy and home shopper traffic remains high, according to Allen, president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.

Homebuilders have been huddling like everyone else through persistent wintry weather, and it shows in a construction slowdown.

That’s builder Steve Allen’s explanation of the 5.8 percent drop in single-family construction permits issued through February compared with the first two months of last year.

A brass porchlight cover and red door set off the entry to a house at 1212 NW 16 completed and sold earlier this month by Positively Paseo. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Jim Beckel -

“It’s been so cold for so long,” said Allen, president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.

Not even rebuilding in Moore, still recovering from the May 20 tornado last year, could make up for the drop in starts in the rest of the metro area.

Permits were up 122 percent in Moore, but down 11.1 percent in Oklahoma City, 35.7 percent in Midwest City, 25 percent in Edmond and 4.1 percent in Norman.

The numbers

With 2014 still young, it bears noting that the year-to-date numbers are still small, so year-to-year comparisons can be stark.

Builders in Moore took out 91 permits through February, up from 41 the first two months of last year.

Through February, builders took out 505 permits in Oklahoma City, down from 568 the same period in 2013.

Builders took nine permits in Midwest City through February, down from 14 the first two months of last year; 81 in Edmond, down from 108 through February last year; and 70 in Norman, down from 73 for the same period in 2013.